Organizing a successful event is both a rewarding and stressful duty. You need specialized skills to draft a budget that accounts for unforeseeable circumstances, find one or more suitable locations, promote the event, etc.

But besides having excellent attention to detail, organizational skills, and being a savvy networker, relying on event planning software will go a long way to streamline the management process and save time.

How to Choose the Ideal Event Planning App

There are many event planning apps, each offering specific features. However, the best event management software is the one that meets your needs, as different events require different features.

So, you will need to outline your needs for your upcoming event to know how to choose the ideal software. Here are a few questions to guide you through this task:

• What type of event are you organizing, in-person, virtual, or hybrid? This will help you to choose an app that supports the event type.
• Is it a closed or an open event? If it's a closed event, you might only need software that can help you send invitations to specific guests. Otherwise, you would need an app with built-in marketing tools to promote the event.
• Does the event planning software have a mobile version? Having mobile-friendly event planning software allows you to gain access to all your information on the go. You can also use the app to share event-related information with your attendees.
• Do you have to calculate a lot of catering inventory? You can use an app with a built-in event planning calculator to have all your information in one place.
• What do you need for the event? You can write all the tools that you need here, including notification systems, ticketing systems, attendance check-in tools, etc.
• Do you need to collaborate with other organizers or event stakeholders? If yes, you should choose an app that allows communication.

These questions should help you narrow down your list of event planning apps. However, you might need to mix different apps depending on the size of your event, or if you do not find one that meets all your needs. With that said, you should consider these event planning solutions:

1. Eventbrite

Eventbrite is widely known to be one of the best tools to find events around you, but it also has an event management app in its toolkit—Eventbrite Organizer.

Whether you are planning a small get-together or a large party, you can rely on Eventbrite Organizer to be your one-stop tool to create your events, manage event sales, and track attendance live through your smartphone.

You can also use Eventbrite to advertise your event online and share vital information with your invitees.

Download: Eventbrite Organizer for Android | iOS (free, custom pricing)

2. monday.com

There are so many moving parts involved when planning an event. That's why you need to have one central location to stay organized and track both completed and uncompleted tasks.

monday.com is a powerful tool that you can use to bring all your running projects on the same platform. Although it is primarily a project management tool, it also features event planning functionalities and built-in templates that you and other collaborators can use to plan your budget or organize timelines.

You can use the My Week feature to create and assign tasks to other team members, while using its dashboard to track and measure your progress. You can also use monday.com to communicate with team members within the app, so you won't have to get lost in a pile of email inboxes. Try out monday.com's powerful organizational tools to supercharge your team collaboration.

Download: monday.com for Android | iOS (free, premium version available)

3. Pocket Planner

One of the critical skills of an event planner is the ability to draft accurate budgets that consider unplanned situations. This means you will have to reach out to the mathematician in you.

But doing all these hand calculations can be time-consuming, and you often have to deal with tight schedules. Pocket Planner is an effective and easy-to-use app that can help you make accurate estimates for your events. Having all your calculations in one place will also help you save time.

Download: Pocket Planner for iOS (free)

4. Social Tables (Web)

Social Tables is a practical tool specializing in event diagramming to help you visualize your venue, sort out seating arrangements, and collaborate with attendees.

You can create your architectural plan, or use one of its 3D templates for a start. Just choose the event type, select a template that matches the style, and adjust according to your needs.

You can use this software to design your event space layout by adding all sorts of pre-made objects, including projectors, stages, tables, etc. You can also share the layout with other collaborators through the software.

5. Whova

If you prefer an all-in-one event management platform to avoid juggling multiple specialized tools, you won't go wrong with Whova. It is a multi-functionality software that allows you to manage your virtual, in-person, or hybrid events using the same system.

Some of its key features include event registration, conference management, event marketing, website creation, attendee check-in, attendee engagement, networking, etc.

You can also share information such as the event's agenda and other logistics (parking arrangements and maps) with attendees using the app. Additionally, attendees can leverage its networking features to share pictures of the event, exchange contacts by scanning business cards, or even send messages to each other through the app.

Download: Whova for Android | iOS (free demo, custom pricing)

Manage Your Events With Confidence

You can now ditch the time-consuming DIY approach and rely on these event management tools to ease the planning process, streamline operations, and help you organize more successful events.

But, considering that no two events are the same, the key is to identify your needs and choose the most appropriate software that will level up every element of your event. Go ahead and pick the software that will help make your next event one to remember.